LOS ANGELES—Louis Andriessen has been a frequent presence at the Los Angeles Philharmonic ever since his hammering, at times grating signature textures for winds, brass, or keyboards blasted through Walt Disney Concert Hall during … » Read

CHICAGO--All may not be right with the world, but a little bit of heaven prevailed Saturday night at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s concert downtown in Symphony Center. It was the orchestra’s first weekend of subscription … » Read

TULSA, Oklahoma--If ever proof was needed that opera can still surprise, provoke and even have something to say, the Act One Finale of Opera Tulsa’s Don Giovanni is it. Updated to America (ish) and sometime in the 1950s (ish)—neither … » Read

Michael Tilson Thomas’s stint as one of this year’s Carnegie Hall Perspectives artists has already given New Yorkers the chance to hear this irrepressible and eclectic conductor at the helm of the Vienna Philharmonic. May 1 was the … » Read

“What time’s the next elevator?” Karen Cargill (mimicking tenor Leo Slezak) might well have asked after she missed her entrance as Erda in Das Rheingold on Monday night (April 29) at the Metropolitan Opera. Just when we thought, … » Read

STRASBOURG—To begin, a question: Why is the technically formidable and musically characterful Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra not a regular recording outfit? Its home, the Palais de la musique et des congrès (PMC), is a venue … » Read

MasterVoices under the leadership of Ted Sperling has remained true to the volunteer choral tradition of its predecessor organization, Robert Shaw’s Collegiate Chorale, while embracing other genres, such as musicals, far afield from the … » Read

LOS ANGELES--For the fourth out of the five programs that he’ll conduct during his three-week residency with the Los Angeles Philharmonic this season, Esa-Pekka Salonen, now conductor laureate, chose one that seemed aimed to please. Not … » Read

LONG BEACH, California--Franz Kafka’s short story In the Penal Colony  is a surreal little shocker that was published in 1919 just after the end of World War I. It’s about a Visitor from an unnamed country who is invited to … » Read

“Don’t clap too early!” warned Austrian composer Thomas Larcher as he strode onto the David Geffen Hall stage to introduce the April 24 U.S. premiere of his Second Symphony with the New York Philharmonic. Not that Larcher should … » Read